Nightmare Moon rested and tried to recoup at least some of the power she had expended. It wasn’t easy. Keeping Celestia restrained in the ethereal plane was tying up a fair portion of her power as it was, and she would have to find a more permanent solution sooner or later. Sealing her in the moon for a thousand years as she herself had been was very tempting, but she didn’t have enough reserves to accomplish such a task as of yet.
Oh, there was no doubt that she’d get there. There were ways of gathering and accumulating mana for such a task, especially when one’s biothaumic system had the versatility, capacity, and (most importantly) the endurance inherent with being a fully mature alicorn. It would take a while though, and she couldn’t accomplish it when she might be interrupted by the proverbial rag-tag group of would-be heroes.
So the heroes would have to be dealt with one way or another.
The easiest and simplest way to do so would have been to just kill them. However, as much as the neglect their ancestors had for her beautiful night had irritated her, she shared her sister’s deep love for their little ponies. Hers was a more tough love, perhaps, but she loved them nonetheless.
She even wanted them to succeed and prosper. To a point, anyway. While their quest was doomed to fail long before she had returned from the moon due to the Elements being inert and the sixth one missing completely, it was better to let them have their epic quest so that they could honestly say that they had tried their best. And then move on with their lives and have stories that they could tell their grand foals.
There were a few ways that such a quest could be handled.
One was to discreetly spy on the party of adventurers and set up suitably tailored challenges and tests of character before letting them have their big boss encounter at the end. This method would conserve the most energy, but was time consuming and would leave her little time to recover whatever power she ended up having to spend in order to set up the encounters on the fly.
Another, costing significantly more mana at the beginning, gave her more time to recover as she waited for the adventurers to reach the castle. It was a more scatter-shot method, as there were a number of ways that the party could approach the castle and even she couldn’t watch them all.
Still, they had seemed like a capable group of mares. Surely such an experienced party could traverse a few hazards safely enough without having to have their hooves held. It wasn’t like they had just walked blindly into the forest without making any preparations whatsoever after all…
*O o O o O*
“That’s right, ladies Eat up! Have your fill! You’re going to need that energy in just a bit if you want to keep up your stamina! Don’t worry, there’s plenty to go around. Help yourself to a drink or two while you’re at it! Couldn’t hurt, after all, if ya know what I mean,” the satyr poured on the charm offensive like there was no tomorrow.
Which might just be the case, considering that the sun had yet to come up.
He wasn’t sure why he had decided to start playing his pipes a while ago. Something about… either overcoming or providing a challenge of some sort to a group of mares if he happened to encounter them. The impulse had sort of come out of nowhere, and he hadn’t actually expected it to pay off like it had, but hey, who was he to complain if fortune suddenly dropped a group of lovely mares in his lap, right?
There wasn’t any need to rush. Being hasty had been the death of more than one satyr after all. Ponies weren’t weak, despite their size, and even one unhappy client could leave him crippled or dead if he wasn’t careful.
So he’d ease them into it. Get them in the mood, and then make sure that they enjoyed the experience. Whether they wanted to or not. He’d be happy, and they’d be… well… sort of happy. For a while anyway.
Still, he couldn’t help but feel a thrill of anticipation as he primed his guests to be more receptive. All those animals had been strangely determined to keep him far away from even the outer reaches of that pony community to the west of the forest, and it had been very frustrating. Especially once that thrice-be-damned zebra shaman had moved in and started actively hunting him whenever he got too close to her hut.
Unnatural abomination his fuzzy ass. What could possibly be more natural than what a satyr did? Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow you might actually meet Mary! And what could be better than that?
*O o O o O*
Something was wrong, although Crystal had trouble thinking of what it might be. The food was good, and while the cup she had selected may have been a bit larger than what her sister would have preferred her to pick, she was still limiting herself to just the one drink, so that was fine. The music was fine too, when the guy bothered to play his pipes instead of blathering on about getting to know them.
Honestly, something just seemed… off… with everything that came out of that guy’s mouth. Not nearly as off as the quirky rise of her libido, which she had thus far just plain ignored ever since she had started her second puberty, but for some reason she just couldn’t bring herself to feel alarmed about it for once. This despite the fact that he was entirely the wrong gender to interest her at all, normally.
“Such a lovely set you all are. I can hardly wait to give you all an experience you will remember for a long time to come. Don’t be afraid now, it’ll be fun! Nothing more natural even, so the best kind of fun there is!”
Stopping to consider the available selection, the figure looked them all over appreciatively. “So… Who wants to go first?”
Crystal recognized what he was now, and the threat he represented. A satyr. A mythical embodiment of sex, drugs, and rock’n’roll. And he had them all under his spell. Had this happened after the others had bonded with the Elements, this wouldn’t have been a problem. The link would have protected them, and they would have protected her.
As it stood though, there was no guarantee that any of the others would be able to summon the will to resist in time to do much of anything. And even with this knowledge, she couldn’t bring herself to actually fight the satyr.
Crystal really didn’t want to do this, but to buy time for the others to find the will to preserve their own innocence, she would have to sacrifice her own…
*O o O o O*
“Well now, looks like we have a volunteer!” the satyr commented as one of the white ones got up from her repast and approached him nervously. “Oh, hey, you’re trembling… None of that now. Calm down and enjoy the ride. Trust me, you’ll enjoy it*urk!!!”
He impacted a tree on the other side of the clearing hard enough to rattle its branches.
“You lay another hand on one of us again, you low down dirty snake, and I’m gonna buck you so hard they’ll feel it all the way in Baltimare!” the orange mare challenged, standing protectively over the still trembling body of the short maned white one.
The pink one suddenly appeared before him, rearing up on her hind legs. Her once frizzy mane mysteriously hung limp and straight off to one side, no humor in her eyes at all. “You scared my friends. And not in the good way. I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to hurt you now.” And then she grinned. A horrible, terrifying, slasher grin. “Oh, wait… I’m not sorry at all! Buh-bye now!”
The blow that followed could have shattered stone…
*O o O o O*
“Huh!? Wha?” Nightmare Moon’s head popped up from her impromptu nap. That had sounded like some sort of high pitched scream? Or perhaps the call of some sort of wounded monkey?
Whatever it had been, it had not sounded like a pony.
No matter.
It would be hours before the mares could possibly get anywhere near the castle. They’d be fine. She still had time to rest.
*O o O o O*
Crystal cried, great shuddering sobs wracking her body as Pinkie Pie and Rarity hugged her from either side. The others joined in shortly afterwards. Even Twilight Sparkle, who barely knew any of them.
Nothing had happened in the end, but a little of their innocence was gone all the same.
Still, there was at least one satyr that would never threaten another mare ever again.
The blood-splattered, shattered trunk of a nearby tree stood as a testament to that…
*O o O o O*
Moondancer, Minuette, Twinkleshine, and Lemon Hearts waited in a small drawing room in the palace. The chains, collars, shackles, and suppressor rings had all been carefully removed, and their coats, manes, and tails had been brushed out by some mares on the palace staff, who were really nice and understanding. It had allowed them to decompress and release a lot of the tension they had been feeling since the Canterlot City Watch had taken them into custody.
“I’m sorry I yelled at you,” Moondancer apologized to Minuette.
“And I’m sorry I suggested throwing a research party at Twilight’s place,” Minuette apologized in turn. “It was a really dumb idea.”
“I’m sorry too!” Lemon Hearts added.
“What are you sorry for?” Twinkleshine asked, tilting her head curiously.
“I don’t know!” Lemon Hearts admitted tearfully. “I’m just glad we’re all still friends!”
“Well, that’s good to hear,” Captain Shining Armor commented as he entered the room, causing the four to jump skittishly. “Heh… sorry for startling you. Anyway, while Sergeant Roughly is waiting under guard for the Commander of the Watch to come deal with him, how about we get some warm food into you four,” he said with a gentle smile. "Contrary to rumor, the food in a military commissary isn’t all that bad. It may not be five-star quality, but it’s fast, healthy, and there’s plenty of it. We even get cake from time to time on special occasions.”
“I heard that ponies in the military had to eat meat…” Lemon Hearts said hesitantly as the four moved to follow the Captain.
“That’s an old pegasi tradition,” Shining Armor admitted with a nod. “And it does have an actual basis behind it: meats tend to be the most efficient way to get certain complex proteins, and those proteins are essential for remaining healthy in rarified air environments such as clouds or high in the mountains. It’s an available option, but we can get the same protein combinations by making sure we eat enough of the right variety of grains, fruits, and vegetables. Also, somepony recently introduced the concept of pre-mixed protein bars as a viable high efficiency substitute. I can’t tell you how much the ponies in Logistics and Supply want to thank whoever came up with that idea.”
“As interesting as this topic is, I don’t think Lemon Hearts should be this shade of green.”
“Aheh heh…” the queasy mare laughed half heartedly. “The bars sound okay, I guess. They’re made from plants, right?”
“One hundred percent meat free,” Captain Armor assured her.
“I think I’d like to try one then,” Lemon Hearts stated. “Maybe I can get an idea of what can be done with them.”
“That’s all well and good,” Moondancer interjected, “but after we eat, we really should get back to the research Twilight asked us to do.”
“I already set the archivists on that task, based on the note Twily sent you,” Shining Armor informed them. “If you four are still interested in helping her though, perhaps you’d like to join her in Ponyville? I can set you up with a priority train car and an operational budget for food, lodging, and expenses up to a certain level.”
The four looked at each other, then nodded before looking back at the captain. “Yes, please!”
“Excellent. Twily was granted access to the living quarters in the Golden Oaks Library. You can’t miss it - it’s the only mage tree in the town. If she’s not there, she’s most likely with another of your mutual friends, Lyra Heartstrings. I can have her residential address provided while I arrange for the train tickets.”
“Have you really read our files?” Moondancer asked.
“Pfft… no,” Shining Armor grinned. “I may have requested a background check once Twily told me about her friends, but all I got to see was a pass/fail report. If anything important had turned up, I’d have been told about it of course, but all the information I have on you four comes from Twily herself.”
“Twilight never told us about you,” Moondancer stated.
“Twilight has an aversion to bragging,” Shining Armor informed them. “Having a high ranking brother in the Royal Guard is the type of thing she would keep quiet about. I bet she didn‘t even tell you that Princess Cadence used to be her babysitter.”
“What, really!?” Minuette exclaimed in astonishment.
“Ask her about it sometime. She’ll be happy to tell you now that you know.”
*O o O o O*
“Th-thanks, everypony…” Crystal Synergy murmured as she finally cried out. “Sorry about that. I just felt so… So… I don’t know… Like I couldn’t bring myself to even be angry about what he was doing! Like my mind was so muddled that I couldn’t even keep my own feelings straight!”
“That was his Allure,” Twilight Sparkle stated.
“I had always thought that a satyr’s allure was more of a figurative statement of how charming they could be,” Rarity commented. “But thinking back on it, he was anything but charming.”
“Got that right,” Applejack agreed with a huff, “but I reckon Twilight was about to explain what the dirty snake was doin’ to muddy up our thoughts and feelings like that.”
“Yes,” Twilight nodded at the orange mare. “A satyr’s Allure is their special ability to dull the minds and raise the libido of almost any sapient female. According to what I’ve read about them, it’s a combination of their musky scent and their specialized biothaumic aura. They can’t really shut it off, but they can enhance the effect if they want. Even more so if they sing or play a musical instrument. Even so, they are most dangerous to the unwary, who might get caught up in the effect before getting a chance to resist it. Which is what happened to us.”
“Well, that explains the pipes then,” Rainbow Dash concluded. “I can’t imagine that guy being able to sing.”
“When we get back home, Crystal, be a dear and remind me to burn my Dusk novels. I may enjoy a good romantic thriller, but they really misrepresent satyrs as being merely dashing rogues with good social skills.”
“Sparkly Vampire Syndrome,” Crystal quipped, feeling more like herself.
“Um…” Fluttershy interjected hesitantly. “We should really wash this blood off before the scent attracts hungry animals…”
“A bit late for that, I think,” a new voice said. It was deep but feminine, and somehow feline. Which was oddly appropriate, considering that the owner of the voice had a mostly leonine body, if one discounted the wings and certain attributes more commonly associated with female minotaurs and centaurs. She was massive, easily the size of a covered wagon. She was smirking. And she was far, far too close for comfort.
“Those are some really big hooters…” Crystal commented, unable to help herself.
“That’s funny,” Pinkie replied as she looked around. “I don’t see any owls anywhere.”
The sphinx put a paw to her own face.
So...Satyr is the Trial of Honesty?
6871045
This is more of a random encounter approach than a walk-through tutorial. Remember, Nightmare Moon decided to set up a more spread out general spell effect since she thought they were experienced enough to be able to handle a few moderate hazards.
The premise behind this is that, at least in this particular version of Equestria, both Luna and Celestia love their little ponies. But Luna's is more of a tough love, and she's willing to let her subjects experience the thrill of adventure, just so long as things don't get too out of hoof. The problem is that the Everfree Forest is much larger and far more dangerous than it had been a thousand years ago, and some of the dangers currently in it are of varieties that Luna would be horrified to know she exposed her little ponies to.
A pack of timber wolves? Those can be fought off or run away from. Anypony encountering them would at least have a fair chance at handling the situation somehow.
A satyr? Nightmare Moon would have hunted him down and eliminated any threat he represented to her little ponies before they had ever encountered him had she known he was there.
6871101 That does clear up some stuff...
So if I'm reading this correctly, Nightmare Moon just sent an impulse to the denizens of the forest rather than custom tailor each challenge? I wonder how Luna will feel about that later, considering the horrors within the forest that she didn't expect.
Assuming Luna is freed and isn't banished again or killed.
Also I'm getting the impression that those paintings inspired Celestia to teach Twilight about friendship, but the problem with that, is she already has a group of friends she is bonded with, just not (to our knowledge) the same group that was affected by the Sonic Rainboom.
It gets all confused.
'hand'?
6871845
"Hand" because minotaurs, centaurs, and satyrs have hands instead of forehooves. Applejack knows the correct terminology because minitaurs at least travel through Equestria occasionally. Frequently enough that a whole crowd of the more timid residents of Ponyville, who had a xenophobic reaction to a zebra of all things (although, thinking back on it, that may have been an Uncanny Valley reaction instead) went to a local seminar hosted by one.
Satyrs as they appear in this world are now described in the Authors note of chapter three. Centaurs (if any show up) may get a spot in their own Authors note later on.
And now: Why Twilight already has friends.
Actually, while I have yet to describe how it happened in the story itself (because it's supposed to be yet another surprise to give Crystal twitchy eye twitches), Twilight having friends early is purely a result of unintended consequences. Li'l Twily saw Princess Celestia admiring a small gallery of anonymous crayon drawings sent to her from Ponyville. This resulted in Li'l Twily deciding to make some crayon drawings of her own to give to give to her mentor. Li'l Twily made some of these crayon drawings during her free time with her study partners, who witnessed this and decided to make their own crayon drawings. This lead to them actually having a group bonding experience, resulting in Li'l Twily and Li'l Moony becoming more socially active and friendlier. Without Princess Celestia ever having to do anything different.
In fact, while Princess Celestia is aware of the members of her student's study group, she's unsure if they are actually friends because Twilight, being the conscientious scholar that she is, doesn't want to waste her mentor's time by talking about her social life.
6873039 Disney and various media outlet potray these mythological cretures and those so called gods in a very misleading light...
I barely know what the all really are growing up...and when i did learn a bit about them...my childhood is kinda crushed.
6874624
If it helps, a lot of the "kid friendly" versions of old Greek mythology seems to be based on the much less objectionable Roman myths. The most obvious example: Hercules is a Roman mythological figure, based on the older Greek hero Heracles.
When you consider the fact that in Greek mythology, Heracles was in a homosexual relationship with his own very much younger cousin...
6878014 True, I suppose...
...So did he die? I first thought she was simply aiming for his jewels, but now with the blood? I don't know how to feel about that. If he died, was his death justified? It is conflicting because attempted rape shouldn't be handled lightly. But still...neutering might have been enough.
Oh boy, a gratuitous self insert makes friends with all the mane 6.
Oh good, we're skipping all the boring stuff like world building and character development.
Oh boy, they follow along in the plot of the show, because we readers want to read about something we've already seen happen.
Gee whiz, it looks like Crystal is going to be the seventh element of Harmony
Oh boy, the cliff is going to collapse out from under them, wait... pipes?
Eh, it could work.
Oh yes, I'm sure that's exactly why you got up and approached him, when he was waiting there innocently for one of you to run out of the will to resist. Taking one for the team, yeah that's totally a good excuse. Just keep telling yourself that.
6963697
Well, especially because "attempted rape" is essentially in his nature as a satyr. That means he souldn't be held culpable since he didn't know any better. It also means he couldn't be reasoned with, so should be destroyed with extreme prejudice. It's more of a situation of putting down a rabid dog, than holding someone accountable for a crime they were going to attempt. That relies on a lot of assumptions about a satyr's nature though, and before passing judgement, I would have to see what choice he made after he knew the mare had once been a man, and was severely terrified at the notion of stuffing things in her quim. If he passed on that to hit a more experienced mare like Rarity for instance, I would have to conclude that he might be a douchebag, but there's no reason to kill him.
But still, Pinkie going all psycho was way out of line for her character. Didn't she get nearly traumatized, at Crystal getting drunk and laughing while crying? What, has she since been stripped of innocence by exposure to Crystal since then?
Let's not forget that he was possessed by the evil spirit of Nightmare Moon, who compelled him to play his pipes.
One was to discretely spy -- discreetly
Wait, what?
Jesus. That's...that's brutal, and I get that he fully intended to rape them (never mind him being influenced by Nightmare Moon-they don't know that, so I'm ignoring the potential ramifications of that for the time being), but instant death? No trying to bring him to justice, tying him up, knocking him out-just splatter him across a tree?
And Pinkie...frankly, what the flying fuck? I get her being angry, but once again flat out killing? If she'd hit him with the intent to knock out and accidentally killed him, that'd be one thing, but full intent to kill. Pinkie. And Fluttershy's not even upset at the brutal killing?
There's two ways this can be. Either there is some serious discrepancy in pony values in this world with how they treat other races-ponies deserve forgiveness and redemption, other races/creatures can burn in hell-or you're going really out of character with the mane 6 here, Like, seriously out of character-I find it hard to believe any of them, in their canonical personalities, would take murdering a sentient, living being this well-even one that intended to rape them
Also, I'm honestly disappointment you jumped straight into the Nightmare Moon arc with Crystal. I was thinking, based on your first chapter, you'd have more development, build up her character a bit more, show interactions with Ponyville's residents, and while you did some of that, you didn't go nearly to the extent I thought you would. For instance, Crystal is, for all intents and purposes Rarity and Sweetie Belle's sister, yet we've gotten precisely zero interactions in that regard so far regarding Sweetie Belle, and frankly the only sisterly interaction with Rarity I can recall in this fic is the back and fourth they have at Twilight's surprise party a few chapters ago.
While I still like Crystal relatively well, you're just telling, not showing, for most of her character so far and...yeah, that's rarely a good thing, and it's no different here. Not enough for me to drop the fic, but worrying if this is how the story is going to be in general.
who is that random pervert satyr?
7046698
I even got the idea that she was able to understand the satyr before something could happen already, so why not blast him right away, instead of waiting?
6963697 I agree with that too.
ssssoooo, did something happened or not?, because I'm not sure if I understand her personality yet, to say what would be odd for her or not.
Either I'm not in the mood, or for once it feels like the random Everfree creatures are getting a bit out of hand. (I hope I write that right).
Huh?
Wasn't tagged dark. Wasn't expecting dark.
Pinkie pulled a pinkie...
❄ ☟ ☜ ✌ 👌 ✡ 💧 💧 ✌ 🕈 ✌ ✋ ❄ 💧 🕆 💧 ✌ ☹ ☹ 📬 📬 📬
Seriously, man? Seriously? Of all the potential alternate hazards you could have thrown their way, you had to go with the Date Rape Monster and make them murder it? Jesus Christ. If you're going to do this kind of tasteless crap, at least put a dark tag on it.
Yikes.
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Baby+It%27s+Cold+Outside+Animatic&&view=detail&mid=1FE61F38913BBACDB6101FE61F38913BBACDB610&&FORM=VRDGAR&ru=%2Fvideos%2Fsearch%3Fq%3DBaby%2BIt%2527s%2BCold%2BOutside%2BAnimatic%26FORM%3DVDMHRS
And as we learned a year after this chapter came out, Sphinxes are a thing in Equestria, but they're desert dwellers, and are likely in the fiend tier of power if not full on demon since our only canonical example is malicious.
10267587
Specifically, we learned that at least one sphinx (of exceptionally large size) was a desert dweller. And a bit of a jerk.
As for that particular sphinx's power tier: Well, gee, it's not like we have examples among other races of power equating to size. Oh, wait...
Princess Celestia
Princess Luna
Princess Mi Amore Cadenza
Princess Twilight Sparkle (who started noticeably growing after becoming an alicorn, even if it took her a while to reach "mature alicorn" size)
Queen Chrysalis
King Thorax
Tirek
The entire breezy race (albeit in the other direction to reflect their vulnerability and lack of power)
Now, obviously, size doesn't always equate to suddenly requiring access to Big & Tall stores, and being extra large doesn't always come with extra power, but there are enough examples that, if I wanted to include sphinx's as a distinct race, I could do so with the majority of them being smaller (say roughly between the size of ponies and griffons) without them having to be mystical powerhouses.